Nan Zhu was long-winded, so he asked directly, “Is the old fishing man one of your people?”
The woman by the lone lamp: “It is not important. We have spoken to this point, yet you still refuse to tell me where the ring came from?”
The three martial brothers fell silent for a while. Yu Qing was about to speak when Nan Zhu suddenly said, “This matter is of great importance. For the sake of fairness, each of us shall say one character of that place name.”
Yu Qing and Mu Aotie looked at him in unison. Sensing their gaze, he retorted, “What is wrong with being a bit cautious and careful?”
The two were speechless. The woman by the lone lamp also remained silent.
Nan Zhu continued, “Listen well. Jin!”
She certainly heard it, but the woman by the lone lamp did not cooperate with his gesture. After hearing this “Jin” character, she slowly sighed. “So it is true. You really did enter the immortal abode of the Profound Gold Immortal.”
Nan Zhu’s lips moved. The three martial brothers also exchanged glances. This time there was no mistake. That place they all knew in their hearts yet dared not directly tell each other about had been revealed in another way, proving some legitimacy of each other’s identities.
Yu Qing asked, “Are you really Liniang? Have you really lived for thousands of years?”
The woman by the lone lamp retorted, “Was it not my brother who sent you to find me?”
The meaning in her words was simple. If my brother can live thousands of years, why can I not?
Yu Qing: “That is correct. He entrusted us to find you.”
The woman by the lone lamp’s tone suddenly changed. “Why did he not come to find me himself, but instead entrust you?”
Her tone had changed, yet the person sitting there showed no reaction whatsoever, still staring at that oil lamp.
“A certain restriction was placed upon him. He cannot leave the Golden Ruins…” At this point, Yu Qing suddenly froze, a kind of realisation appearing in his expression. “You say you are an immortal? We previously saw a person in an ancient tomb who also lived thousands of years and also claimed to be an ‘immortal’. Later, in Little Cloud Realm, she was killed by several experts.
You must have heard of her. She is called Yun Xi. She also had some kind of restriction upon her. Her true body was forever trapped in Little Cloud Realm. Your brother also has some kind of restriction. He cannot leave the Golden Ruins. You… do you also have a restriction, trapped in the Nether Sea unable to leave?”
Based on his experience and intuition, he suddenly realised at this moment that before the various immortal abodes closed, they seemed to have taken certain restraining measures against those left behind, to prevent reckless actions.
Regarding this question, the woman by the lone lamp neither confirmed nor denied it. She retorted, “If he cannot leave, then how did you enter? Was the entrance to the Golden Ruins not sealed long ago?”
Yu Qing was silent for a moment, then said, “It was not sealed. It relates to you, in fact. The person who oversaw the sealing of the Golden Ruins was precisely your brother. But your brother harboured selfish intentions. He left a slim chance for brother and sister to meet. He did not follow orders to recall the halberd-bearing guards outside to completely seal the entrance. We took advantage of this loophole and broke in. However, it is now completely sealed. It should have been sealed by your brother’s own hand. Whether it can be opened from inside again, that remains unknown.”
The woman by the lone lamp placed both hands on the table edge. “Not sealed. It was actually not sealed. It was truly like Little Cloud Realm. Brother has been waiting for me all along, waiting for me…”
Yu Qing: “He sent us to find you. He said you had undergone the Heavenly Spring body cleansing, so you should still be alive. He gave us this ring, saying that when you saw this ring you would know our origins. He asked us to tell you of his situation…”
In fact, that golden strongman had entrusted Wu Hei to find someone. Yu Qing had taken the task upon himself. However, he had not delayed the matter. He could be considered to have completed the golden strongman’s entrustment, informing his sister Liniang of his situation.
Who would have thought that upon hearing this, Liniang suddenly stood up, her emotions becoming extremely agitated. She turned to face them. “You say my brother turned into a giant? He even turned into a golden giant without a physical body?”
The three martial brothers were astonished. They were also curious about her appearance. However, Liniang, cloaked and with her back to the light, made it impossible to see her face clearly.
Yu Qing: “Yes. Did you not know?”
Liniang’s body was clearly trembling. “They actually turned him into a strongman too!”
The three martial brothers exchanged glances. They could not understand what this woman’s trembling voice meant, but they could sense the anger contained in her tone.
After a good while, she recovered her calm and asked, “Is that all?”
Yu Qing: “What he asked us to pass on is just that. Additionally, there are some questions we asked him. He also did not know, so he sent us to ask you. This is also one of the reasons he could entrust us to find you.”
Liniang: “What questions?”
Yu Qing: “Where is the Heavenly Spring? Your brother said you had undergone the Heavenly Spring body cleansing, so he sent us to ask you.”
“Heavenly Spring?” After asking this in return, Liniang actually laughed, letting out a soft giggling laugh. Within the laughter hid a few inexplicable meanings. “You want to find the Heavenly Spring? Even the Tanhua Lang, known as the world’s greatest talent, wishes to seek longevity?”
Yu Qing, however, said with righteous sternness, “We have no interest in longevity. Rather, we accidentally contaminated ourselves with the Earthly Spring in the Golden Ruins, causing a huge impact on our bodies. We wish to use the Heavenly Spring to return to normal. Your brother said he was powerless, so he sent us to find you.”
Liniang was puzzled. “So what if you accidentally contaminated yourselves with the Earthly Spring?”
Yu Qing immediately drew his sword with a swish. He tilted his head and said, “Old Ninth.”
Mu Aotie understood. He immediately pulled open his garment, loosened his collar, and turned around.
Yu Qing pulled down his back collar with one hand. He waved his sword blade across the spinous process at the back of his neck. Thanks to Mu Aotie’s prepared spell suppression, no blood flowed out. Yu Qing pried open the sliced flesh with two fingers, revealing the bony spinous process. That section of bone had already turned mostly golden, shining brightly under the lamplight.
“While helping your brother guard the immortal palace, we fought against intruding thieves. Our bodies were splashed with Earthly Spring water. It was not only him. Both of us also showed these symptoms.”
Yu Qing spoke with righteous sternness. Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie, however, were inwardly complaining. At that time, someone could not be stopped. He insisted on jumping into the Earthly Spring. In the end, he dragged everyone into disaster.
Of course, now that things had come to this, they could not undermine him. Otherwise it would be no different from harming themselves.
Upon seeing this, Liniang finally came to a realisation. “So it was contamination from the Earthly Spring causing mutation. Will you die?”
Yu Qing did not want to admit they were suffering a fatal threat, afraid of being held at a disadvantage. He withdrew his hand from Mu Aotie’s neck. “We will not die. But we have seen the consequences of others entering the Earthly Spring to soak. They turned into demons. We do not want to become that kind of demon.”
Liniang: “So you want to find the Heavenly Spring, and by the way seek longevity.”
Yu Qing repeatedly declared, “Longevity is not important. What is important is returning to normal. If you know the whereabouts of the ‘Human Spring’, that will also do. We can avoid looking for the Heavenly Spring.”
Who would have thought Liniang said indifferently, “Whether it is the Heavenly Spring or the Earthly Spring, I do not know where they are.”
The three martial brothers were startled. Nan Zhu could no longer hold back. “I say, Senior, are you not clearly playing with us? You clearly underwent the Heavenly Spring body cleansing. How could you not know where the Heavenly Spring is? We ran all this way to help your brother, and this is how you toy with us?”
He truly had seen the world and grown bold. In his early years, he would not have dared to speak to someone who had lived thousands of years in this manner.
Liniang said, “What you say is reasonable. But I truly do not know where it is. I also truly underwent the Heavenly Spring body cleansing. But it was not the kind of process you imagine. I only learned after waking up that I had been sent to another immortal abode to bathe in the Heavenly Spring. No one sought my opinion beforehand. No one asked whether I was willing. It was already a done deal. At that time, there was more than one person who met with the same fate as me and bathed in the Heavenly Spring. It is just that here in the Nether Sea, only I remain.”
It was actually like this? The three martial brothers looked at each other in dismay.
Yu Qing asked again, “You do not even know which immortal abode it was?”
Liniang: “I do not know. Some things, if too many people know, will cause it to become known to all. Have you heard of any immortal abode whose location is known to all? The Nether Sea Immortal Abode is known to all, and so it became like this. My status in the Nether Sea Immortal Abode back then was not high. I did not know much. I was not qualified to recklessly pry into immortal secrets.”
Hearing these words, the three were already half-deflated. After going around in such a big circle, being half-played to death, and spending so much money, this was the result?
Yu Qing could only settle for the next best thing. “Senior, you are widely experienced and knowledgeable. Do you know if there is any other method to cure our problem?”
Liniang: “If I knew, I would not be wasting words with you. I do not even understand what condition you are in. How could I have a targeted remedy? Back then, I was merely a lowly servant in the immortal abode who greeted and sent off guests. I followed the rules. I could not touch too much.”
At this, Yu Qing did remember something. He asked, “You were the ‘Sea Maiden’ of this immortal abode back then?”
Liniang: “That is correct. I was the last Sea Maiden, specifically in charge of greeting and sending off guests. Perhaps it was because they wanted me to stay behind that they granted me longevity.”
Nan Zhu, his face showing grief and indignation, suddenly said, “With Senior’s experience, do we really have no hope of treatment at all? Is there truly no way whatsoever?”
Liniang: “Of course there is hope and a way. We simply do not know it. Your problem is not an ordinary problem of this world. This world probably has no way to cure you. I am afraid you must still seek answers from other immortal abodes.”
Yu Qing smiled bitterly. “Senior also said that the locations of immortal abodes are not known to just anyone. If the world knew, they would have gone to look long ago.”
Liniang: “After all, I have come into contact with some immortals in the immortal abode. Although I do not know which immortal abodes house the Heavenly Spring and the Earthly Spring, I do know a few clues about the locations of immortal abodes. If you are not afraid of trouble, you might as well go look for them.”
Yu Qing immediately grew suspicious. “You know clues? All these years you never tried to find them?”
Liniang: “It is not that I did not try. Rather, I never thought of looking. For thousands of years, I always believed that apart from the Nether Sea side, all the major immortal abodes had been completely sealed. They had all cut off all contact with the outside world. What I learned from above at that time was precisely this. Otherwise, it would not have fallen to you to receive my brother’s entrustment. My brother had told me the entrance location of the Golden Ruins.
Moreover, knowing clues does not mean one can find a way to enter other immortal abodes. I find you three rather interesting. With such weak strength, you not only found the entrance to Little Cloud Realm but also found the entrance to the Golden Ruins. You not only broke into Little Cloud Realm but also broke into the Golden Ruins. Things buried in thousands of years of time, yet you were able to dig them out one after another. No wonder from Wang Wentian to Long Xingyun, they fell one by one into your hands. It seems you truly have some skill.
I will give you the clues. Perhaps you really can find them. Whether you want to try your luck is up to you.”
Regardless of whether they could find it, getting the clues first was what mattered. Nan Zhu hurriedly said, “Whatever clues Senior has, please speak. We are all ears.”
Liniang retorted, “Have you heard of the Hundred Flowers Immortal?”